Complete revision notes on the UK parliament

Revision notes- parliamentA legislature is the body that makes laws, this is parliament in the UK and is split into 3; The house oflords, the house of commons and the monarchy. The queens powers are ability symbolic such asgiving bill royal assent and appointing the government. Parliaments 3 main roles are to represent,pass bills to become laws and to provide scrutiny of the government y giving them somewhere to beaccountable to (select committees and procedures like PMQs are how this is achieved). Two otherroles are to Legitimise government as they are not elected directly and so they can vote to removegovernments. It also provides the recruiting pool for the core executive. All of these roles have atsome point been criticised .Evaluation of bi cameral systems Advantages Disadvantages Provides check on the first chamber Takes longer A check on the executive Costs a lot more Allows scrutiny of bills Doesn't represent the electorate in the Allows for delay of bills and more case of the HOL debate Encourages conflict between the two Broadens the basis of representation chambersThe house of lords is made up of different types of lords; Life peers- Sit in the house of lords for their whole life and were created by the life peers act in 1958. They are appointed by the PM or HOL appointments commission. They account for 605 of the peers Hereditary peers- ones who have their titles passed down to them. There are now only 91 after the HOL reform act 1999 Lords spiritual- The COE bishops appointed by the PM, there are 26 of themWhat do the lords do? They can consider and revise bills from the HOC by rejecting, amending or simply passing legislation from the commons (HOC eventually get their way) Cab initiate non controversial legislation Can invoke the power of delay- can hold up legislation for a year for further debate. established in the parliament act 1949 but they cannot do this to money bills or bills from the party manifesto. Can hold general debates Scrutinize EU legislation through the large (70 member) select committee

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It has been said that the house of lords is unrepresentative due to all hereditary peers having similarbackgrounds and having similar ages yet the life peerages act has diversified the chamber.…read more

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Legitimisation- Stand for people, the respect of MPs has been undermined by scandals Political recruitment- Future executive members are taken from parliament however many of these are ones who have been good by not spoken their true opinion to please the whips and also might not have the right expertise if they are career politicians Representation- Voted for by the electorate- Socially unrepresentative and FPTP undermines the effectivenessThe two chambers have unequal powers, the Salisbury convention states that they should notoppose government bills…read more

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IMF on monetary issues The activities of pressure groups The media The electorate which has the ultimate sovereignty Devolved powersParliamentary government is the system we have in this country where the executive govern in andthrough the legislature. Over time they have become more merged so the legislature now maintainsgovernment power through large majorities rather than challenges it.…read more

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Theopposition are the main HOC opposition and key members get official government salaries)The departmental select committees made up of between 11 and 16 members with expertise onthe topic is where the most effective scrutiny takes place. They have the power to call people fromoutside and look at papers and records from departments.…read more